A new existence calls for new terms with which to describe it. Below are some of the phrases and names used to define Underworld existence.
Agency, The: Slang term for the bureaucracy of the Hierarchy. Angst: The negative mental energy that the Shadow (and Spectres) feed upon and use. Arcanos: One of the supernatural abilities that wraiths possess, allowing them to affect the living and the dead. Plural - Arcanoi Arcanum, The: A collection of scholars and ghosthunters among the Quick Arisen: Wraiths who have transcended Artifact: An object in the Underworld that has unusual powers of some sort. Body Snatcher: A wraith who possesses the living Boo Job: A premeditated attempt to scare the Quick Boojum: A nasty critter, usually one of the unidentified denizens of the Tempest Byway: A stable path through the Tempest Caul, The: The amniotic sac of a wraith's birth into the Shadowlands. The translucent covering made from ectoplasm with which all wraiths are reborn. Charon: Founder and ruler of the Hierarchy, missing since 1945 Circle: A group of wraiths, usually engaged upon common business. Citadel: The central building and stronghold of the Necropolis Cohort:A Circle composed of Hierarchy-affiliated wraiths. Cohorts are supposed to have 10 members Consort: A living person attuned to be used as a Host Corpus: The 'body' of a wraith. Plural - Corpora Cult: An unflattering name for one of the countless Heretic sects Deathlord: One of seven wraiths currently ruling the Hierarchy. Each has dominion over the victims of a certain sort of death (i.e. violence, pestilence, mystery, etc.) Dictim Mortuum: Charon's decree forbidding trafficking with mortals Domain: Territory held by a wraith or a Circle of wraiths Doomsday: The day when Oblivion swallows everything; conversely, the day when the Shadowlands and Skinlands merge. Doomsday features prominently in many Heretic cults' philosophies, even if no two Heretics can agree as to what exactly it is. Doomshade: A Spectre Doomslayer: A wraith who specializes in hunting Spectres Drone: The shell of a wraith, doomed to endlessly repeat a single task until claimed by Oblivion. Drones have no mind or will Enfant: A wraith just reborn into the Underworld, usually encased in a Caul Far Shores, The: The lands across the Tempest, supposedly corresponding to Heaven, Hell and more Fetters: Those things that remain int he lands of the living that tie a wraith to her old life Freewraith: A wraith that is not actively serving in the military Gang: A Circle of renegades Guild: One of the supposedly banned organizations of Freewraiths dedicated to the study and use of one of the Arcanoi. There were 13 Greater and 3 Lesser Guilds Harrowing, The: A sleigh-ride through the worst side of a wraith's subconscious, courtesy of his Shadow and the Spectres of the Tempest. More than one wraith has been destroyed during a Harrowing Harvesting: The act of cutting Enfants free from their Cauls and initiating them into the Shadowlands. Many Harvesters are actually slavers, and the initiation they offer consists of a pair of manacles linked by Stygian steel chains Haunt: A place where the Shroud is thin and the Restless feel at home Hierarchy, The: The monolithic bureaucracy of the Dark Kingdom of Iron, a.k.a. the Empire of Stygia. At this point, the Empire and the Hierarchy have become interchangable in most wraith's minds. The Hierarchy is the largest collection of Western wraiths in the Underworld. Heretics: Religios fanatics among the dead, though many bizarre religions have sprung up among the Restless. Most Heretics have some sort of central belief based around the notion of Transcendence Hell: Supposedly, a place of punishment for wicked souls. In the Underworld, a joke of the first order; there are so many false hells that they've become something of a tourist attraction for the more adventerous among the dead Host: A living person possessed by the use of the Arcanos Puppetry Isle of Sorrow, The: The island in the Tempest whis the city of Stygia is built upon Juice: Pathos Legacy: Archaic way of referring to a very potent Fetter Legions: The military and police of Stygia, through technically every Stygian citizen owes allegiance to one of the Legions. Each Legion is overseen by a Deathlord Lemure: A young wraith, recently deceased but no longer an Enfant Maelstrom: The terrifying storms that sweep from the mouth of the Void out over the Shadowlands, bearing Spectres and destruction in their wake. Growing more frequent in recent years, they either herald or are the result of horrific events in the Skinlands Meat: Mortal Flesh Mitty: A wraith whose deepest regret is not having lived while he had the chance. Mittys are surprisingly common Moleman: Wraiths who claim to have experienced the stereotypical 'tunnel of light.' The term is not considered to be a compliment Necropolis: A city of the dead. Also used to specify the regions of cities of the Quick most thickly inhabited by wraiths. Plural - Necropoli or Necropoleis Nihils: Rips in the fabric of the Shadowlands, tearing through the surface reality and exposing the surging Tempest beneath. Some Nihils lead down to the Labyrinth Oblivion: The manifestation and hunger of entropy, also known to some as the Great Unmaking. Oblivion is the final fate of all things in the Underworld, save those who Transcend. The physical manifestation of Oblivion is called the Void, and it opens upon the heart of the Labyrinth Obolus: The Stygian base unit of currency, forged from one soul Onyx Tower: Charon's place, now abandoned Pathos: Pure emotion, which wraiths feed upon and use in their daily existences. The usable essence of passion Plasm: The physical matter of the Underworld. Wraiths, relics and Artifacts are all made of plasm Projectors: Visitors to the Underworld from the Skinlands. Also known as skinboys Quick, The: The Living Reaper: A wraith who removes an Enfant's Caul Renegades: Wraiths who stand opposed to the Hierarchy. They have no structure, organization or unified goals other than rebellion. Renegades range from true freedom fighters to the ghosts of ruffians looking for an easy afterlife Restless, The: Wraiths in general. Also known as the Restless Dead Risen: A wraith who has found a way to reanimate her corpse. Most wraiths believe Risen to be legendary Shadow, The: The darker side of a wraith's personality. The Shadow is selfish, egocentric and sadistic, and directs its efforts toward destroying all the wraith loves (including the wraith himself) Shadowlands, The: The ghostly realm just across the Shroud from the lands of the living Skinlands, The: The lands of the living Slumber: The healing sleep that wraiths can indulge in Soulfire: Crystals of concentrated Pathos, used in soulforging Spectre: A wraith whose Shadow has achieved permenant dominance. Spectres serve Oblivion. Also known as the Shadow-Eaten Stormrunning: Taking a shortcut across the Tempest, as opposed to using a Byway Stygia: The Dark Kingdom of Iron, the largest organization of wraiths in the Western world. Also the capital city of the empire of the Western Restless Tempest, The: The great storm of the Underworld, seperating the Shadowlands from Stygia and the Far Shores Thrall: A wraith who is in service to another. In essence, a slave Tithe: The amount of Pathos a wraith draws from a Haunt or Fetter Transcendence: The moment when a wraith reconciles Shadow and Psyche, moving on to a higher (?) existence. Transcendence is considered legend by most wraiths, and feared by many others Underworld, The: The realms of the dead, from the Far Shores to the Shadowlands and including Stygia, the Tempest, the Labyrinth and the Void Veinous Stair: The passage from the heart of Stygia into the Labyrinth Void, The: The abyss at the heart of the Labyrinth Wraith: A ghost, a spirit who retains such strong attachment to the lands of the living that she cannot move past this level of existence. Also called the Restless
